Long Term Visual Outcomes of Uveitis Associated with Behcet’s Disease

Özet

Introduction: To compare the visual prognosis of patients with Behcet’s uveitis who presented after 1977-1987 and 2000-2010. Methods: In this observational, retrospective study, 382 eyes of the 200 patients (48 female and 152 male) were included. Patients who visited the clinic between 1977 and 1987 were classified into Group 1, and patients who visited between 2000 and 2010 into Group 2. Group 1 consisted of 194 eyes (100 patients), and Group 2 consisted of 188 eyes (100 patients). Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) measurements, biomicroscopic and fundoscopic examinations, gender, age of onset of uveitis, numbers of ocular attacks per year from the onset of ocular disease, immunosuppressive drugs and ocular complications were noted by medical records. Grade of uveitis was noted at the first and last visit. Results: In this study, 76% of the patients were male and 24% of the patients were female. Bilateral ocular involvement was in 91%. The mean age of onset of uveitis was 29 years. Mean ocular attack number was 4.21 in Group 1 and 3.25 in Group 2. Kaplan Meier survival analysis estimated the risk of losing useful vision (BCVA>0.1) at the last visit for Group 1 and Group 2 as 64.50% and 48.81% (Log Rank: 11.44, p<0.001). Mean last visit grade was 3.24 in Group 1 and 2.47 in Group 2 (p<0.001). Mean last BCVA was 0.41 in Group 1 and 0.65 in Group 2 (p<0.001). Discussion and Conclusion: There was a trend for a better visual prognosis in patients who presented after 2000 due to following-up ocular attacks closer and using azathioprine, cyclosporin A and new treatment agents for severe posterior uveitis.